We made it to our hotel which was located on a street just off Las Ramblas, right near the marina and close to the center of the city. We were pretty exhausted when we got in, but we didn’t hesitate to get our hands on some sangria and tapas.
The second night we were there we learned that it was the San Juan Festival that same evening. Apparently this holiday is celebrated with lots of fireworks along the beach, so Bill and I decided to take a walk over there. All along the 20 minute walk we saw small explosions and flashes of light right on the street as people lit various fireworks.
When we finally got to the beach it was more insane than we could’ve imagined. There were people all over the beach, with small open areas where people were lighting fireworks. By people I actually mean young children, as there were literally toddlers lighting fireworks and tottering away. We were shocked that we didn’t hear more ambulances or see any limbs shot off. It was quite a sight.The next day we found our way to La Pedrera, an apartment building created by Gaudi, that basically looks like a crazy jello mold was frozen in time. We were able to take a walk through one of the apartments as it would’ve been furnished in the 20s, then we went through the attic, and onto the roof. The whole building is so innovative and original, I’ll try and get some photos up here soon.
A few days after we arrived we met up with Bill’s cousin Tim, who was in the area for a genius convention or something like that. He was actually at a science conference his boss at Harvard, where he’s earning his PHD, sent him. The timing worked out great for us to meet up with him.
It was so great to meet up with Tim. Right off the bat we took him down to the beach for his first dip in the Mediterranean. I don’t know if he was more excited by the sight of the beautiful beach or the huge number of boobs that can be seen along the sea coast. Either way, he enjoyed the beach, as did we. It was a quick stop before we took him to what we grew to think of as “our” tapas place for some good food and even better sangria.
That night was the (semi? quarter?) finals of the Euro Cup which saw Spain play some other country that I can’t seem to remember. Obviously it was riveting. It’s actually not so bad watching soccer, I hate watching just about every other sport, but this one is so straight forward - ball into goal. Besides that it lasts 90 minutes, more or less straight through; it’s not like football where the clock stops every 3 or 4 seconds. Also, we were in Spain watching Spain beat those other guys, so there was a lot of adrenaline in the bar we sat at which always makes a game more fun to watch.
The next day we rented bicycles and rode around the city. Our first stop was Sagrada Familia, a cathedral by Gaudi. As you can imagine, Bill and I were all Cathedraled out by this point in our trip, but this one is like nothing else. Building commenced in the late 19th century, and won’t be done for a LONG time as it is built on donations, which at 8 Euro a person aren’t going to get them anywhere. It’s difficult to describe the cathedral, I'll throw on lots of photos, but what you need to know is that it will eventually be about twice as tall, and it is gorgeous.
After Sagrada Familia we took the bikes to Parque Quell, which is at the top of a very steep hill. I went ahead and stopped when I started seeing white spots and just walked the rest of the way, but Bill and Timmy, both gluttons for punishment, went almost the whole way. This park was also designed by Gaudi, and almost all of it is characterized by mosaics and various tributes to nature, as is so much of his work. If it weren’t for all the annoying tourists taking the same pictures, this park would be all kinds of awesome.
The next day was the day of the Jack Johnson show, which Timmy got us tickets for back in the states. It was at the Olympic Stadium, or so we thought, so a few hours before the show we decided to hoof it over, up another ridiculous hill. We walked for almost an hour before reaching the stadium, which was surprisingly empty. Yes we were an hour or two early, but we thought they should at least have a stage erected by now. A little asking around in broken spanish, and we learned that we were on the wrong side of Barcelona.
We set off down the hill in a different direction toward the subway, and while we were racing we still had time to take in the Olympic Stadium, the Palace (museum maybe? No time for details), and the Magic Fountain. Finally we made it to the subway, and were lucky enough to get on a train with other Jack Johnson fans that we could follow to the concert.
The concert itself was great - it started right on time with Mason Jennings who played solo on an acoustic guitar for about a half hour. After that was G. Love and the Special Sauce who put on a lively, energetic show. Finally Jack Johnson came out and played a nice long set, almost 2 hours by the time he took his final bow. It was so fun seeing one of my favorite artists in a foreign country with Bill and Tim, I’ll definitely remember it as a highlight.
The next day we said goodbye to Tim, but not before we took another trip to the beach. We were lucky enough to get hot weather the whole time we were in Barcelona, so the beach was a great relief. Also a great relief was finding burritos, which I’ve been craving since about a week into our trip.
Anyway, after we walked Tim to the subway we got some food and went back to our room to watch the final game of the Euro Cup - Spain versus Germany. Of course Spain won the whole thing, so we headed out to the streets to see just how mad it got there. Turns out, everyone was pretty excited! People were all over Las Ramblas, yelling and screaming, taking off shirts, dumping stuff on one another, climbing on stores, cars, and streetlights, and generally expressing their happiness of the Spanish victory.
It was pretty cool to be in Spain on such a big night, and it was a perfect end to our visit in Barcelona. The next day we hit the road yet again.
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